In the recently held summit between the two at Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, the two warring factions came together on the same table, in order to resolve specific pernicious issues; the chief among them is the proposal to put an end to the Korean War officially.
As of today, the US continues to deploy around 27,000 troops in South Korea with the aim of maintaining geopolitical peace in the region.
For this military withdrawal to take place, the US had placed certain conditions, which had to be adhered to by Pyongyang. That involved the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
The sanctions have long been in place and have been placed on some items. The primary motive behind these measures is to isolate the proud nation from the international community.
“Keep your friends close but enemies closer”– this statement was made at a time when the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, was not so blurred. In this modern world, where rhetorics subvert conventional warfare; the US-North Korean conflict acquires special prominence.
In the recently held summit between the two at Hanoi, the Vietnamese capital, the two warring factions came together on the same table, in order to resolve specific pernicious issues; the chief among them is the proposal to put an end to the Korean War officially.
As of today, the US continues to deploy around 27,000 troops in South Korea with the aim of maintaining geopolitical peace in the region. This is something which the Northern relatives are sorely opposed to. An end to the Korean War would signal the gradual withdrawal of the troops with hopes of Korean unification simmering in the aftermath.
For this military withdrawal to take place, the US had placed certain conditions, which had to be adhered to by Pyongyang. That involved the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.
In order to satisfy these conditions, the North Koreans would have to immediately disarm all the nuclear warheads in their possession, which according to Western estimates, range between 30 to 70. Also, they would have to shut down a uranium refinery in the south of their country.
However this is where they played their trump card, they suddenly placed the demand that the US would have to withdraw all sanctions against them. The sanctions have long been in place and have been placed on some items. The primary motive behind these measures is to isolate the proud nation from the international community. It is quite clear that the US would not be inclined to tamper with these measures as they are the only protection one has from an unstable nuclear-powered state.
It is thus not surprising that the peace talks failed to achieve their desired objective. While Donald Trump boarded the Air Force One without any of his traditional hullabaloos, Kim Jong Un boarded his armored train with a triumphant look on his face, on the way to his 3000 km journey homewards through China. Moreover, any photo-op in the aftermath of the summit is at best, a consolation for sore ends with no definite results to show for it.